Paper Dolls
I played with paper dolls as a child
Betsy McCall, Grace Kelley, Cyd Charisse
I put their clothes on with tabs
I pasted them onto cardboard to give them substance
I imagined lives for them
Words, scenes, actions, outcomes.
Not too unlike what I’m doing today
Only the paper dolls
Are in my head, not my hands
I create them from scratch
Faces, bodies, personalities
Words, scenes, actions, outcomes.
Perhaps I’ve come upon a grand solution
To flesh them out and make them live
Paper dolls of my own creation
My characters made real on paper
Drawn out, cut with scissors
Dressed with tabs, acted out in scene.
Connie Wesala 